


An Impression of Femininity

by frankiesin



Series: The Marching Band AU [1]
Category: Bandom, Mindless Self Indulgence, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Friendship Adventures, Gen, Gender Identity, Lindsey Ballato is a better person than everyone thinks, Non-binary Gerard Way, fun times with accepting friends, gender feelios
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-12 15:06:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5670304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankiesin/pseuds/frankiesin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gee comes out to Lindsey. Lindsey helps them embrace their feminine side. ~Just two girls having fun at the mall~</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A two-part fic that's going to be part of something bigger. Because I love trans/nb!Gee and there isn't enough of that out here, so I'm just making a universe of ficlets.
> 
> There will be Frerard, and other ships. There will be a high school marching band. There will be shenanigans. I will try to make up some kind of chronology for what's happening.

Gerard was over at Lindsey's house again, and they were up in Lindsey's room, supposedly working on the English paper due in a week, but really they were just talking. They were talking about anything except the English paper, except when one of them would pause and look down at the blank notebook paper between them and say something along the lines of “we are so fucked, we haven't gotten anything done at all.” They would then proceed to continue to do nothing at all, because the assignment was bullshit and Gerard and Lindsey were both too creative to dull their imaginations down into something that would work with the assigned topic. 

 

Lindsey picked up a piece of notebook paper and pulled it over to her lap, on top of the binder that she was theoretically using as a lap desk, for the paper that she was theoretically writing. “This is the dumbest assignment in the world, Gee.”

 

“What about that one, in seventh grade, where we had to write about how our favourite colour relates to who we are as a person?” Gerard asked. He had given up on looking like he was trying to get something done, and was laying back across Lindsey's bed, one hand half curled around the corner of Lindsey's plaid blanket. His shoulder length black hair was splayed out around his face. 

 

Lindsey raised an eyebrow. “Was that the one where you wrote about how you hate that everyone assumes your favourite colour is black just because you wear it all the time?”

 

“Yeah, and that my favourite colour was actually lavender but, like, there aren't any actual  _ clothes _ that are lavender, except for granny sweaters and socks.” Gerard said. He stared at Lindsey, looking deep and contemplative. “I have so many lavender socks. What am I supposed to do with all of my fucking socks?”

 

“Wear them?” Lindsey suggested, because she wasn't sure if Gerard was talking literally or metaphorically. She loved the guy, he was her best friend, but she didn't always know what went on in his head. 

 

Gerard shrugged as best he could from where he was laying on her bed. “Yeah, I guess.”

 

They fell silent after that. Gerard was off in sock world or wherever, and Lindsey has started doodling in the margins of the paper that she probably wasn't going to use for her essay, now that there were little treehouses cropping up around the edges. She added in a bridge connecting two of the trees that were close to the top of the page. She considered adding people, but her people were kind of shit, especially at such a small scale. Maybe she'd just make Ewoks or something. 

 

“Lindsey, can I borrow one of your skirts?” Gerard asked. Lindsey looked up from her doodles to see him looking up at her with big, earnest hazel eyes. His face was slowly turning pink. Lindsey blinked and nodded slowly. “Yeah, they're in my closet. Grab whatever you want.”

 

“Seriously?” Gerard asked, his voice small. He was still laying on her bed, still holding the blanket to his chest. 

 

“Seriously.” Lindsey said. “We share clothes all the time. Just, some of them might not fit you right? Since I've got hips and thighs and other curvy body parts.”

 

“That's. Okay. I'm just…” Gerard let go of the blanket and made a gesture towards Lindsey's bathroom. “In there. I'm gonna change in there.”

 

“Okay.” Lindsey said. Gerard got up off of her bed then, and made his way over to her closet. He dug around for a while, and Lindsey went back to her sketches. She considered turning the whole fucking page into a forest. She might as well, since the English essay was going nowhere. 

 

“Hey, Lindsey,” Gerard's voice broke through her thoughts and she looked up again. He was standing in the doorway to her bathroom, clutching a plain black skirt in his hands. His hands were tight around the fabric. He looked really nervous. “I… you're not going to, like, judge me or anything, right?”

 

“Gerard, this is not the weirdest thing I've seen you do. Go put the fucking skirt on.” She said. Gerard nodded. He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door with a soft clicking noise. Lindsey went back to her sketches. 

 

Gerard wanting to wear a skirt really wasn't the weirdest thing Lindsey had witnessed, and she'd known him for a while. Gerard borrowed her makeup all the time, had gotten his own collection of eyeliners and mascara and shit that Lindsey would borrow back if she forgot her own. He collected flowery pastel socks, for fucks sake. Lindsey wasn't even surprised that he wanted to wear one of her skirts. 

 

She started to worry about him when, twenty minutes later, he was still in the bathroom. Gerard didn't take long to get dressed, even when he was trying to look like something other than an art hobo. And he was only putting on a skirt, which wasn't that hard to do. Lindsey would know, because she wore a lot of skirts. 

 

She got up off the bed and walked over to the closed bathroom door. She knocked. “Gee? You okay in there?”

 

No answer. Lindsey frowned, and knocked again. “Gee, I’m coming in. Cover anything you don't want me to see.”

 

The door wasn't locked. The door actually couldn't lock, because Lindsey's mom had removed the lock so that Lindsey couldn't lock herself in the bathroom for hours. Not that Lindsey was the type of girl to lock herself in the bathroom for hours. Lindsey's mom was probably just worried that Lindsey would lock herself in the bathroom with someone else. 

 

Honestly, the only reason that Gerard was allowed to be alone with Lindsey in her bedroom was because he was a guy and Lindsey's mom knew that Lindsey wasn't interested in guys. 

 

She opened the door to the bathroom to find Gerard curled up in a small ball beside the sink, his arms wrapped around his bare legs and his face hidden behind his hair and his knees. He was wearing the skirt, though, because Lindsey could see pieces of black fabric coming around the sides of Gerard's legs. 

 

She sat down next to him and bumped her shoulder against his. “Talk to me, Gee.”

 

“I'm fucking ugly.” Gerard said to his knees. Or his crotch. Lindsey couldn't tell from where she was sitting. She reached out and wrapped her arms around him, tilting his whole body towards her so that the top of his bowed head was under her chin. “No you're not.”

 

“Yeah I fucking am. You don't even know what I look like right now.” Gerard said, his voice cracking. He burrowed even further into himself. “You don't  _ want _ to know what I look like right now because I look like  _ shit _ and this was a stupid idea.”

 

“No it wasn't.” Lindsey rubbed her thumb against his shoulder. She pressed her face against the top of his head, even though his hair was unwashed and greasy and a little gross. She was used to it. She was used to Gerard, and he was her best fucking friend and even though she didn't like boys she still thought he was beautiful. Because he was, even though he didn't always see it. She gave him a tight squeeze. “Let me see you. You know I won't judge.”

 

Gerard made a small whimpering noise, but he started uncurling himself from his tight ball of existence. His feet were bare and he stretched out his toes once his legs were flat on the floor of the bathroom. Lindsey let go of him and scooted around so that she could face him better. His head was still bowed and his hair was covering his face. He had his arms crossed over his chest. “This is stupid.”

 

“No it's not.” Lindsey said. “Come on, stand up and let me see you for real.”

 

Gerard muttered something under his breath that Lindsey didn't catch, but he stood up anyway. He pulled at the sleeves of his sweatshirt, covering most of his hands, and she still couldn't see his face clearly. 

 

Lindsey frowned. She couldn't tell what the problem was. Sure, Gerard's legs weren't fabulous (they were pale from never being exposed to the sun, ever) and the skirt looked a little weird paired with the sweatshirt, but otherwise he looked fine. Lindsey stepped forward, reaching out and placing her fingers under his chin. “There's nothing wrong. Except, like, maybe get a different shirt? Because your sweatshirt looks kind of funny with that skirt in particular.”

 

“I look better with the sweatshirt on.” Gerard said, and lifted his head, shaking his hair out of his face. He didn't look like he had been crying or anything, but his eyes were red and his mouth was pulled down into a tight frown. 

 

Lindsey scrunched her eyebrows together. “Wait, why?”

 

“Because.” Gerard said. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something else but then clamped it back shut and ducked his head again, his hair falling back in front of his face. Lindsey can see enough of his face to know that he's biting down on his lower lip, worrying it between his teeth. He pulls at the sleeve of his hoodie again. “I'm genderfluid.”

 

Lindsey didn't see that one coming, but at the same time, it made perfect sense. Gerard had never really acted like a cis guy (not that that meant anything, but it was a starting point, at least), and he (they?  _ She? _ ) didn't exactly conform to traditionally masculine shit. Lindsey reached forward and wrapped her arms around them, hugging them tightly. She pressed a kiss to the side of their head, not caring that she was probably leaving behind a lipstick mark. 

 

Gerard hugged her back. Their fingers dug into back. “So, you're okay with this? With me being trans and everything?”

 

“Duh.” Lindsey said, not letting go of him. “I have some questions, though. Just standard shit, like what pronouns, if I should be calling you a different name, who knows, when you figured this out. Things like that.”

 

Gerard let go of her, and so she let go as well and the two of them leaned against the sink counter. Gerard shoved their hands into the pocket of their sweatshirt. “Uh, I like they/them right now, but only Mikey and Ray know so don't, like, use they/them around any of our other friends yet. I think I'm gonna wait until summer to start really coming out. And, I'm okay with Gerard as a name but if you could call me Gee? Like, just Gee, ‘cause it's cute and short and gender neutral. And, I figured it out around Christmas. I told Mikey first, and I just kind of blurted it out in front of Ray.”

 

“And they're both okay with it, right?” Lindsey asked, ready to beat up either of them if they weren't okay with Gee being trans. Not that she thought either of those boys would have an issue with it. Mikey was Gee’s baby brother. Mikey wouldn't reject Gee over something like that. Mikey loved Gee like no other sibling duo Lindsey had ever seen. And Ray was probably the nicest, most accepting person in the world. He was the first person most people came out to, just because everyone knew that Ray would just accept them and be super chill about it. And probably help them get a date, but only if they were interested in dating someone. 

 

Gee nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, they're both cool with it.”

 

Lindsey nudged Gee with her shoulder. “So, does that mean I have a new BFFS to go shopping with?”

 

She had been joking when she said that, because she wasn't into going on a shopping spree every weekend with her girl friends, but when Gee looked up at her with nervous, excited hazel eyes, she changed her mind. She'd go shopping every fucking day if it meant that Gee would feel comfortable with who they were. 

 

They curled their toes and kicked at the cabinets under the sink. “Can we? I'm too scared to go on my own, and… and I'm kind of too big for your skirts. Sorry.”

 

“It's whatever.” Lindsey shrugged. “I can't fit into your skinny jeans anymore, but at least I can kill a man with my legs.”

 

“I really don't think my fat is going to kill anyone.” Gee said. They shoved their hands further into their sweatshirt, so that it covered more of the skirt. They stared down at their knees. “I kind of wish I had your body. Or, like, one that wasn't so… not attractive.”

 

“Gee, what the fuck.” Lindsey almost smacked them on the arm. She didn't, because she was trying to be nice and supportive and not her usual in-your-face self. “You  _ are _ attractive, what the hell. Look, I can get my mom to drive us to the mall, like, right now, because it doesn't close until eight or something and you're spending the night anyway, since it's Friday. We're gonna go and get you some cute shit and I'm gonna make you see that you're really fucking pretty, okay?”

 

Gee continued to stare at their knees. Lindsey rolled her eyes. Fuck being gentle, it wasn't getting her anywhere and Gee needed to see that they were cute, even to a hardcore lesbian. She placed a hand on each of their cheeks and turned their face towards her. “Gee. Gee, listen to me. You wanna be my new girl BFF, you gotta deal with a fuckload of pampering.”

 

“Okay.” They said after a few more moments of pouting. They looked down at the skirt again. “But, can I get cute underwear? I don't think that Batman boxers go well with skirts.”

 

Lindsey laughed, throwing her head back and everything. Of course, Gee would think about cute underwear at a time like this.  _ Lindsey _ didn't even think about cute underwear, she just grabbed one of the generic six packs whenever she needed new ones. Of course, she did have cute underwear, but she didn't wear it unless she thought she was going to get laid. There was no point otherwise. 

 

She pressed her forehead against Gee's shoulder. “Yeah, we can get you cute underwear.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mall trip!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so here's part two. Slight TW for transphobia/transphobic remarks. Idk exactly what to call it but basically someone is rude to Gee because they're trans.

The mall was somewhat crowded, and so Lindsey held onto Gee's hand as she dragged them around the place. She let Gee pick out which stores they wanted to go into, because she didn't know what kind of girl clothes Gee wanted, and she didn't want to force her own aesthetic onto them. 

 

The first place they went into was a little boutique with a name in French that Lindsey was pretty sure just meant “Sweet.” She wasn't that great at French, though, so it could have been something else entirely. 

 

The two of them looked out of place in the store, because it was all soft pastels and cute little skirts and dresses. Lindsey was in all black and Gee was in a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans that smelled like the band room. She was also pretty sure that they hadn't washed their hair in the past three days. They didn't look like they belonged there, and the tall, thin, pixie looking blonde behind the counter gave them a strange look before going back to rearranging the row of bracelets in front of her. 

 

“Lindsey, holy shit.” Gee pulled at Lindsey's shirt sleeve. They were holding a grey and white sweater in their other hand, a small smile on their face. Lindsey nodded. “It's cute. You wanna try it on?”

 

Gee blanched and their eyes cut quickly to the blonde at the register. Lindsey got the message. She nodded. “I'll ask. You okay with me calling you ‘she,’ just for now?”

 

“Yeah.” Gee nodded rapidly, holding the sweater tightly. “Thanks.”

 

“No problem.” Lindsey said. She gave their arm a squeeze before striding up to the counter and giving the girl her brightest smile, showing all her teeth. “Hi, my friend found something she wants to try on. Can she use one of the dressing rooms?”

 

The blonde cut her eyes over to Gee, who was trying to blend into the other sweaters. The blonde raised an eyebrow. “ _ She? _ ”

 

“Uh, yeah.” Lindsey crossed her arms over her chest. “That's what I just said.”

 

The blonde looked skeptical, but she grabbed a set of keys from behind the register and led Lindsey and Gee to the back of the store, where the dressing rooms were. She unlocked one of them and said “call me over if you need help,” before leaving them alone and returning to the front of the store, where a group of girls had just come in. Lindsey rolled her eyes before turning back to Gee. “I'll be right outside, okay?”

 

“I'm fine.” They said, but they were still holding tightly onto the sweater and curling into themselves when they went into the changing room. Lindsey leaned against the small portion of wall between changing rooms and waited until Gee came back out. When they did, they barely opened the door and only stuck their head out. Lindsey perked up. “Can I see it?”

 

Gee opened the door fully. The sweater was soft, a little long in the arms, and it wasn't super form fitting. The neck was wide, so Lindsey could see some of Gee's pale, soft skin that was usually covered in a shirt or a sweatshirt. They looked good. They looked up at her through their hair. “I like it. I kind of want a skirt to go with it but I don't want to have to ask that girl for a room again.”

 

“Do you trust me to find something that matches?” Lindsey asked. Gee nodded. Lindsey told them to wait there, and she went back into the store, looking around for a skirt to match with the sweater. She found one that was red and flared. It would probably reach Gee's mid thigh, assuming Lindsey had any grasp on how women's sizes worked (she didn't, not really). She brought it, and another one in a different size, back over to Gee. “Okay, so I don't know your size in this store, but hopefully one of these will fit.”

 

“I like it.” Gee took the two skirts in their hands and ran their fingers down the fabric. “Okay. I'm gonna try this on now.”

 

Lindsey nodded and they closed the door. When they opened it again, they didn't come out but instead pulled Lindsey inside the small room. They were smiling, even though their cheeks were a bright red to match the skirt. Their knees were pressed together and the sleeves of their sweater were pulled down over their hands. “It's fits. It fucking fits and I don't look like an idiot.”

 

“I told you so.” Lindsey said. Gee moved forward and hugged her, burying their face into her shoulder. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

 

Lindsey hugged them back for a moment longer, and then they both pulled away at the same time. Like a hugging mind meld or something. Lindsey convinced Gee to actually  _ buy _ the sweater and the skirt, because Gee didn't always buy things they wanted to buy, for some weird reason. It wasn't a money problem, because even though the Ways weren't loaded, they had enough money that Gee could get clothes or art supplies if they needed (or wanted) them. 

 

Gee reemerged from the changing room in their hoodie and jeans, their new clothes slung over one arm, and they pulled Lindsey over with them to check out. The blonde girl at the cash register still looked like she wanted to kick Gee and Lindsey out, but she didn't and Gee walked out of that store with two new pieces of clothing. 

 

An hour later, and Gee had gotten themselves two more skirts (one black and high waisted, the other pink and just above the knee) and had told Lindsey that they wanted to get the girly underwear. Lindsey had grabbed their hand again and rushed them halfway across the mall to one of the bigger department stores, ignoring how their face had turned a deep red the moment they said the word underwear. What a dork. Gee was definitely Lindsey's best friend. 

 

“Wait, why are we here?” Gee stage-whispered as Lindsey lead them to the underwear section. “Aren't there, like, actual underwear stores for girls?”

 

“Yeah but they're fucking expensive and you don't have enough boobage for any of their good bras.” Lindsey said, and let go of Gee's hand. “Also, do you really think you're a lacy pink thong kind of person?”

 

“I don't even think I'm a thon-- _ Lindsey _ .” Gee stopped mid-sentence and slapped their hand out across Lindsey's chest. Right on the boob too. Because Gee had class. Lindsey wrapped her fingers around their wrist and slowly removed their hand from her chest. “Gee, buddy, you haven't reached girlfriend status yet so no boob touching. Seriously.”

 

“Oh, shit, sorry.” And Gee actually did look sorry. Lindsey patted them on the head. They smiled, and then their face lit up, like they had remembered the reason they accidentally assaulted their best friend. Their other hand shot out and grabbed something off of one of the pegs. “Lindsey, look,  _ stockings _ .”

 

“So, you're a stockings kind of person?” Lindsey raised an eyebrow. They were nice stockings. Thigh-highs, garters and everything, and in fucking lavender of all things. Of course Gee was a stockings person. It probably wasn't even a kinky thing, they probably just liked the artistry behind the lace design or some shit. 

 

Gee was nodding. “Yeah, I guess. I've never really gotten the chance to wear them, but you have a lot and one time when I spent the night I might have stolen a pair of yours and put them on in the bathroom and just… walked around in them? I don't know, they just felt really nice. And, cute and shit. I don't know.”

 

“Hey, I'm not judging.” Lindsey threw her hands up. “But how are you going to wear them, once you get them? Like, once you come out you'll be able to wear them whenever, but…”

 

“I'll wear them under my pants.” Gee said. They shrugged. “I'll know that they're there, but no one else will. I don't know, I just really, really like these.”

 

“Then find some underwear and let's get them.” Lindsey said. “Also, I think I need a new sex bra, so take your time.”

 

“You have a sex bra?” Gee's eyes widened comically. Lindsey nodded. “Yeah. But it's tearing a lot more than is attractive so I need a new one. I also have sex underwear, if you're looking for ideas.”

 

Gee stared at her. “Lynz, I don't exactly have a lot of sex. I don't have any sex, actually, because no one really wants to have sex with me.”

 

Lindsey bit back a laugh.  _ If only they knew _ . Lindsey knew that Frank Iero, the second shortest saxophone in their high school marching band and resident punk ass nerd, had a crush on Gee. Frank hadn't told her or anything, but it was obvious. His crush on Gee was like the size of Iowa or something. It was big and it was obvious and there was an actual betting pool going on in the marching band as to when Frank would finally grow a pair and ask Gee out. Because it wasn't as though Gee would say no. They didn't have a huge crush on Frank the same way Frank had a huge crush on them, but Lindsey had (very casually and spy-like, in her humble opinion) asked Gee their opinion on Frank once and Gee had blushed a little and admitted that Frank was kind of cute. 

 

Lindsey knew Gee-speak, though, and that had been Gee-speak for “would bang in a heartbeat, hella fine.” 

 

She wasn't going to bring Frank into this, though, because that would get her kicked out of the betting pool. So she shrugged and said instead, “you never know when that might change. It's good to be prepared, anyway.”

 

Gee rolled their eyes. “Fine, I'll buy sex underwear.”

 

“Nice.” Lindsey nodded. They parted ways for the search, but came back together when it was time to check out. The lady behind the cash register was probably around sixty years old, and she smiled and complimented Gee on being willing to shop with their sister. Neither of them bothered correcting her, but Gee did draw back into their hoodie for a while. 

 

They lady didn't question why Lindsey was buying a bra seperately, or why Gee had bought most of the underwear (and the tights). Lindsey didn't give her an answer, just thanked her when she shoved the receipt into her bag and then led Gee out of the store. After confirming with Gee, Lindsey called her mom and said that she and Gee were done. 

 

Lindsey's mom showed up thirty minutes later and smiled broadly at Gee as they got into the back of the car. “Find everything you were looking for?”

 

Gee nodded. “Yes, pretty much. Thanks for taking us, Ms. Ballato.”

 

“Oh, it's nothing. I'm just glad that Lindsey has a friend to go out with, even if you are a guy.” Lindsey's mom said. Lindsey made eye contact with Gee in the rear view mirror. They blinked slowly.  _ Not today, not right now.  _ The message was clear and so Lindsey gave them a small nod. She and Gee could figure out when Gee should come out to Lindsey's mom. Lindsey's mom would probably be happy, because even though Gee wasn't a girl, they were close enough. Lindsey's mom was obsessed with Lindsey having female friends that she  _ didn't  _ bang. It was weird. Not a bad weird, just something Lindsey didn't think was a normal mom thing to be worried about. 

  
Whatever. It could be worse. It wasn't, though, and because of Lindsey's mom, Gee now had some feminine clothes and Lindsey had a new bra that wouldn't keep her from getting laid. All in all, a fucking successful day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave kudos or a comment or something? I'd really appreciate it!


End file.
